Right place, wrong time
by islandgirl33
Summary: Jackson and April try to figure out their feelings for each other! T/M


A/N – Just a little one shot about Japril :)

* * *

Jackson was sat at the bar. Staring deeply at the bottle of beer in front of him, the words on the label blurring in to a jumbled fuzz of letters and colour. He twisted his phone in his hand, pondering what he should do next. Should he call April? He knew she was in surgery. He wondered if he should leave her a message, he needed to talk to her.

He was just about to stand up and make a decision, when the door to the bar suddenly sprung open and April walked in. Jackson instantly noticed there was something different about her, he couldn't put his finger on exactly what it was, her eyes were slightly red, but her face had more of a subtle glow to it than usual. She was so beautiful, he thought and he wished she would realize it.

April glanced over at Jackson, and their eyes locked together and just for that brief moment, it was as though they were the only two people in the room, before April abruptly looked away, and Jackson swore he saw a brief flash of defensiveness cross her face.

She ordered a drink and sat down sheepishly next to him, and without taking his eyes away from her face he said, "How did your surgery go?"

"Good. Really good," she replied and her face lit up for a second, before it dropped again and she went silent, very aware of Jackson's expectant eyes on her, as she suddenly blurted out, "I think Matthew has dumped me." And she sipped her drink.

Jackson was unsure how he should respond, as he simply said "I'm sorry." Trying to make it sound as genuine as possible. Although, it was glaringly obvious to both of them, that he wasn't sorry one bit.

At that point, April turned her head to look at him properly, as she said "You and Stephanie?" fidgeting with her nails as she nervously awaited his response, she really had no idea what she was saying, or why she was even there. As she looked at his unreadable expression, starting to wonder if she would regret it.

"We're done," was all he eventually said in response.

"Oh," April instantly blurted out a look of surprise crossing her face, as she awaited further explanation.

"It was never _really_ a thing anyway….." Jackson said slowly, as April remained silent, looking away and down at her drink, as she contemplated what he'd said. She was pretty sure Stephanie hadn't seen it like that. April had tried to like Stephanie. But as much as she told herself it was nothing personal. Whenever April thought of Stephanie with Jackson all she could really feel was jealousy, regret and a little annoyance at the simple fact, Stephanie just wasn't right for him at all.

April looked up and his blue eyes met hers straight on as he said "Let's not talk about them anymore."

This wasn't quite how April had wanted this conversation to go and her emotions started to get the better of her, as she felt her eyes annoyingly well up. Jackson instinctively grabbed her hand, as he said gently "He's not worth your tears, April."

She smiled at him through the glaze of tears covering her eyes, and she knew she wasn't crying over Matthew. If she'd ever thought they'd have a happy ever after_,_ she'd been kidding herself. She paused, as she realized she had no idea where she actually stood with Jackson now, he seemingly wasn't with Stephanie anymore, but he'd made it clear that he didn't want to be with her either. She pulled her hand away from him defensively, and said "You don't have to do this, okay. You don't have to be all nice to me, because I've been dumped and I'm sad and single again. So just stop feeling sorry for me, okay."

"What?" Jackson said, confused at her sudden irrational reaction, "I feel a lot of things for you, April. But believe me, sorry for you isn't one of them, and besides it looks like I'm single again too, so that would make us even. Don't you think?"

"Did you love her?" April said suddenly, as she wiped her eyes. Trying desperately to compose herself and not come across as an emotional wreck.

He looked slightly taken aback at the directness of the question, as he looked away and said "I care about her, a lot. But, no...I don't think I loved her, not like..."

He twisted his bottle, as he said. "Maybe if things had been different I could have loved her, but not like this." He stopped, hoping April would understand exactly what he meant by that.

"April," he eventually said, as she looked away and didn't say anything, and he searched her face, eagerly awaiting a response, any small sign to let him know what she was thinking. "You have to give me something here, okay. I know this isn't easy for you, but we need to discuss just what it is that's going on between us. Because right now, you're giving out very mixed signals."

April shifted awkwardly. She was out of her depth and she had no idea how she would even start to go about articulating her feelings for Jackson. Inside, she was feeling scared and confused and the tension was becoming unbearable, as she said. "You were my best friend. The one person that saw me for who I was, that I wasn't just this boring, uptight girl. You cared about me in ways that no-one else ever has, and you made me feel special. You made _me_ realize that I wasn't that person, that I didn't have to be so uptight about everything all the time. That sometimes it's okay to let go a little. But after San Francisco, and then failing my boards, it made me question everything. It made me feel like such a huge failure"

Jackson placed one of his big strong hands, firmly over April's delicate trembling fingers." You were never a failure, April. And, I'm sorry things changed between us. I guess, I felt guilty about what happened between us. You wouldn't speak about it afterwards, and you acted so relieved about the whole pregnancy scare, you made me feel as though being with me, had been one big mistake. I just couldn't handle it."

April suddenly felt mad. She was mad that for weeks, she had cried over him in secret, at how quickly he had moved on to another girl. And just as she had started to move on herself, all the old feelings had come flooding back. _But how could she possibly trust that she wouldn't get hurt again? _She abruptly pulled her hand away from his, as she slid off her bar stool, her eyes filled with fresh tears again as she said "I can't do this. I'm sorry, Jackson," and she rushed out of the bar.

Jackson quickly put some money down and ran out after her. The cool night air hit him immediately, as he stepped out in to the dark night. He immediately saw her walking away, with her back to him and he gently grabbed her arm, forcing her to turn around and look at him as he said urgently. "April, stop. Please, don't go."

She stood silently still, as Jackson's eyes pleaded with her for forgiveness and he said "I know you're mad at me somehow, you've made that very clear from the way you behaved after San Francisco. You blame me for failing your boards and for going against your beliefs, and I don't know what I can do to make that right, but please, April, please, you have to at least give me a chance, let me try. Because the way you're behaving now isn't fair."

Her face flushed, "You think _I'm _not being fair. How about how fair you've been with me these past few months," she snapped back at him.

Her eyes fixed on his face, as she continued to speak with furious passion, "I don't blame _you _for failing my boards and for screwing up and going against my beliefs, that was all on _me_…. I blame _you_ for making me trust you, for making me let you in and for _making me fall in love with you."_ Her voice was shaking with emotion, as she said the last part. Saying it out loud had finally made her face up to her feelings, making it all very real. All the feelings she had experienced since losing her virginity, creeping back to the surface again. All the excitement, guilt, hurt and rejection, she had tried so hard for months to keep so tightly buried away.

Needing no further encouragement, Jackson grabbed her face with both his strong, gentle hands and drew her in to him, as he whispered against her neck, "_I've been falling in love with you for months."_

He positioned himself closer to her and she didn't say a word, as he suddenly moved his lips forward to meet hers, kissing her very softy at first, not pushing at all, as he savoured the taste of her sweet lips.

April pressed her lips harder against his, and they both instinctively opened their mouths, as she pushed her body further in to him, standing on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around his neck.

She felt as though in that brief moment he had awoken something hidden away inside her, a deep rooted desire that had been locked away ever since that night in San Francisco, a feeling so intense that she had been scared to re visit it, after discovering it for the first time back on that incredible night before their boards. But now at this moment, she wanted more than anything to explore it further. Her need for his body intensifying, as she pushed herself further against him, melting in to his muscular chest. She was getting dizzy, and she didn't want the moment to end, her whole body was on fire for him. He turned her on in ways that Matthew never could.

It was all Jackson could do not to grab her, lift her up and put her legs around him right there outside the bar. _But this is April,_ he thought. _She might not be ready for that. Don't ruin it, before it even starts again... _He tried with everything in him to concentrate on her mouth and the kiss, but there came a point where he couldn't take it anymore, not when he heard the soft little moan escape her throat. He pulled his head away from her, and he stared down at her mouth still barely inches from his, and he quickly drew apart from her, as he whispered against her lips "You want to get out of here?" and she just nodded, her cheeks flushed with arousal as she smoothed down her ruffled hair.

They kissed again quickly, before Jackson used all of his mental strength to release her and take a slow step backwards. The smile on both their faces full of excitement as they turned hand in hand to make their way back to her place.

….

Back at April's apartment, sat slightly awkwardly next to each other on the sofa, the sexual tension between them became more and more apparent, as Jackson grabbed her hand and ran his thumb across her palm as he said, "You know, if you want to take it slow this time, I can wait, as long as it takes. I don't want to rush you."

April smiled and for the first time in weeks, she felt truly happy as she realized that he meant every word he was saying, as she whispered seductively. "I don't want to take things slow," moving towards him, to kiss him again and they both felt an instant rush, with the release of the tension. Taking the lead, April slid her tongue inside his mouth and a wave of lust instantly jolted through her. She wanted _more,_ and she had to let him know that, as with a subtle movement she moved across to straddle him and he placed his hands on her hips.

April broke the kiss and leaned back, as she heard Jackson groan. She looked in to his eyes as she said, _"I want you," _and just like that all her insecurities and hang ups disappeared.

…

Lying in bed later that evening April had never felt so alive. She sighed as Jackson affectionately kissed her neck and caressed the side of her body. She closed her eyes, she had no idea where they would go from here. All she did know was that she never wanted this moment to end. _._

"We should do that again," she said to him lazily, as he grinned and replied _"All night"_


End file.
